Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Loving Juneau... Again...

I'm in Juneau now for almost two weeks. Got here yesterday afternoon and for the second time since leaving here in early August I have returned for a visit. And just like it was when I was here in October the weather is perfect. It was a bit cloudy when we flew in yesterday, but by this morning it had cleared and the forecast now is for 8 or 9 days of sunshine! I know I pretty much did this same post when I was here in October, but if you haven't been to Juneau when the weather is like this you really are missing out.

I ran up to about 2,000 ft. today (just above tree line) and was blown away by the beauty of the mountains here. I have seen the view I saw today hundreds of times but it still looks absolutely amazing every time. On days like today it is hard for me to believe that this place really exists. It is without question the most majestic and luring landscape I have ever been immersed in.

I'm still taking it pretty easy on the running front. I did 19 miles on Sunday and it was a fun run, but I was still feeling fairly tired from racing 8 days prior. After yesterday off I felt really good today, but only went for an hour. I'll probably go pretty easy again the next couple days, but by the weekend I intend to get out for 4+ hour runs with my snowshoes up into the mountains here... we'll see if I can actually wait all the way until the weekend though.

Hi. I moved to Juneau over the summer. I took up running in order to stay active in the long, dark, otherwise idle winter evenings. I'm a beginner, so for now I'm working on building a running base. I'd like to run some 5k's when the spring and summer hits. I want to try trail running but I really don't know where to go! Do you have any suggestions on trails that might be fun for a newbie? Or maybe even pavement routes? I welcome your suggestions. I live downtown and want to keep my run's there and perhaps douglas for now. One goal is to build up a route that incorporates the valley. I know to an ultra runner that's a laughable distance, but for me those 9ish miles it takes to get from downtown to the valley is a big goal!

I've been a lot of places on this planet and I can confidently say that AK is the only place that no matter how many times I return it still takes my breath away. I love it there. Congrats on getting back for a visit. Juneau is awesome.

Man, I haven't been to Alaska since I was up in the Saint Elias Range, a year ago. You are sure giving me a good case of Alaska fever. Thanks for the great post. Enjoy Alaska, you are right about the landscape, it's just awesome.

i wish i carried a camera with me more. i guess i just need to get a better small camera. i did a 5 hour snowshoe "run" above tree line on saturday and the pictures would have been amazing. unfortantely they're all just in my head.

Erik, i'm definitely being generous calling my snowshoe outings "runs." there is some running involved down low and when the snow is really firm, but a huge portion of a ridgeline outing this time of year is just hiking. i was out for 5 hours on saturday and probably was only actually running for 2 hours of that time.